A Very Girly Christmas

I failed to take pictures at Thanksgiving this year, go Me! Everyone had a great time, the food was great and it was good to see Susie and Mark, who flew in midday on Thanksgiving Day. Instead of shopping on Black Friday, we went to Santa's North Pole at the start of the Pikes Peak Highway. It's a little Christmas themed amusement park that is open between May and January I believe. Mia and I arrived before the others so we waited in line to see Santa. I wasn't sure what she would do. Let's just say it was a big no go for sitting with the strange bearded man! She didn't want anything to do with him. She is a little adrenaline junkie though! She loved the fast spinny rides, except for the rocking rocket ship. I don't know what was so scary about that one after the crazy roller coaster and the super spinny up and down parachutes and plane!
On Saturday we didn't leave the house except to retrieve a package from the post office. We played at the big playground on the way home. When we got home we cleaned the flower beds of the dead plants and moved the flower pots to the shelves on the back porch. We did a minimal amount of Christmas decorating, just enough to get in the spirit but not so much that it's a pain to put away. Since we're going to Virginia this year we aren't dragging out and assembling the big tree. Grandma Dollman had given Mia a miniature Disney Princess tree so we just put that up on the end table beside the piano. I thought it came with ornaments but didn't see any in the box. Luckily, I kept all of Mia's fairy and Barbie ornaments totally separate from the rest of the ornaments and only had to dig out one box of ornaments! For the rest of the decorating we hung the stockings and some garland on the stair banister and brought the nutcracker out. We ordered a pine wreath from our little neighbor who was selling them in November to help pay his tuition to a home school tutoring academy and they came in the day before Thanksgiving. It has a nice, festive aroma that we get to whiff when we open the door. I rather shoddily hung some white lights around the door, firmly believing there is a reason we send the guys out to do it!

Now if I could just finish Christmas gift making/shopping. I'm having a hard time motivating this year. I got a wild hair and made a quilt for Mia in four hours, so I know the wherewithal is there, I'm just having a hard time tapping into it for the projects I NEED to finish! I think part of it is not having Gary around to cheer me on, he was my pep team last year!

Mia's girly little Christmas tree

The quilt that appeared out of nowhere

This was taken a couple of weeks ago, she was pushing her ponies around the house, refusing to believe that she needed pants over those tie dyed tights.

Riding in the cars at The North Pole

This is on the rocket ship ride that she didn't like! Helen said she was absolutely trembling! Caden actually enjoyed it, besides the expression that makes you think she's going to toss her cookies!

I think the airplanes were too slow and bored her!

Mia was adamant that she was NOT getting on the ferris wheel, but she changed her mind after Erin and John did all of the standing in line.